I think I might have been responsible for that. When I put my copy of the truly wonderful 'Midnight Voices' on to my iPod, it wasn't recognised by the Gracenotes database so I duly entered the information. And then of course was faced with the dilemma of how to classify it. Well, what would you have done?

As a Gracenotes aside, some time ago I purchased a CD of the Hal Willner-produced compliation 'Rogue's Gallery' - basically a collection of sea shanties and related music performed by various folk and popular music luminaries. When I stuck it into iTunes, I noticed that whoever had entered the track data had, with a lamentable lack of respect, referred to the revered lead singer of U2 as 'That W***** Bono'. And so he remains, on my iPod, to this day.

Just do what Leslie does Bogus and play the CD quietly but obtrusively in the background (there is a trick in this - I think it might be like a slight but considerable danger) until they take your copy with them when they go

Oh, yes, so there is. But the truth is that I wasn't expecting the traffic here to be so intense that another posting would appear in the meantime. Just demonstrates the level of interest that's been sparked by that terrific new CD...

Glad I wasn't responsible for your visitors. I have enough problems being responsible for my own...

Although one of the first to order my copy, I wasn't expecting miracles even before the Post Office strikes put the kaibosh on it all, but even at my most pessimistic, I wouldn't have expected to have had to wait until now to get my grubby little hands on the cd. I don't mind that the Post Office membership feel that they have to strike, but it would help if they were doing a good job. Attached is a scan of the packet that those lovely people in Bristol sent out, and the address is clear enough, but Grenada instead of Granada, given that Spain was clearly printed as well, is unforgiveable. Surely there must be software that the post office could use to assist in overseas addresses....

Having vented my spleen, I must then commend Pete and the rest of the musicians responsible for the fabulous array of goodies they have presented us with. I'm not generally a great lover of cover versions, but most of these are an absolute treat. To single out just one, "The Faded Mansion On The Hill" is probably even better than the original.

I now look forward to Volume Two, and request that a new version of "Tenderfoot" be included on it.

Perhaps a suggestion from any interested MV for a favourite track, and a poll to decide the tracks to which the makeovers would be given?

Blimey, Bob! I'm glad you included the scan. Otherwise I'd probably have just smiled wryly and said Yeah, yeah, nice one. The really worrying thing is that the PO in Grenada have a rubber stamp made up and ready. So how often does this happen, I wonder? Thanks, as they say, for sharing.

Oh, yes, and thanks for your most generous comments. I hadn't thought of this as an album of cover versions, but I suppose you're right - in a way. I know I'm not very likely to get it from among this crowd, but I'll be particularly interested to hear what people think who don't know the earlier versions - that's ultimately what has to work if there's to be a Volume 2.

Well, personally, I think it's a terrific piece of work and the finest album that Mr Atkin has released in the last... 30 or so years.

It's better than Winter Spring and The Lakeside Sessions. And it's not because of the songs. WS and TLS had fantastic songs. It's because of the band. It's because of the production. A brilliant dynamic has been found amongst this small group of artists that has created a warmth and a power in the music that oozes out of the CD player to fill the room. It makes me wish that Pete could go back into studio with TLS and WS and re-record all that material again in this way.

I think Midnight Voices is more than a simple cover album or a spit and polish. It's a rejuvination. These don't sound like songs written in the Seventies. They sound like they were written yesterday. It proves that however much the old recordings or Atkin and James or even we may have aged, the power and the beaty of the music and the lyrics has stood the test of time.

I could fill a hundred pages with all the great things I have to say about this CD, but there's no point in me trying to critique it. I have nothing critical to say. The least of these recordings put a new spin and a fresh lick of paint on the originals. The best of them reinvent and transend the originals. I can't express just how much I hope this 'experiment' continues into a second volume... or a third or a fourth... even (maybe, one day, fingers crossed) some previously unrecorded material. With this group of musicians and this level of production, I sincerely believe Pete Atkin is the best he's ever been.

Also, with Christmas coming up, I think I'll buy a couple more copies, send them out to friends as gifts, maybe with a card raving about this 'new talent I've discovered,' who has 'just arrived on the contemporary music scene' and see what people think.

A word of thanks and appreciation for Midnight Voices, the CD. Yes, just a hint of initial trepidation. Am I really expected to welcome with open arms new versions of these cherished songs, at my advanced age and conservative tastes? But hang on a moment, I’ve been hearing and enjoying Pete revisiting the old treasures for some eight years now, so relax, there’s no way he could blow it.

Definitely not alarming, then. Perhaps a little startling here and there, certainly intriguing, and on the whole immensely satisfying. Particularly gratifying to have this splendid rendering of Senior Citizens; the voice so mellow, the tempo so relaxed. To my ear these versions of Between us There is Nothing and The Faded Mansion are just wonderful, and A Shakuhachi is a Thief in the Night is definitely growing on me.

I was amused as soon as I saw the track list. The old arrangement of Master of the revels was never one of my favourites, I could see it had its place but it was all that jauntiness and the tuba I didn't take to. Considering the lyrics I'd assumed its place would always be at the beginning, how wrong can you be! The new arrangement is much more interesting and I like just the hint of tuba to recall the old days. I love the idea of a guitarless guitar song (and am coming to terms with that strange instrument) but I'm relieved Thirty year man wasn't pianoless nor Sessionman's blues without its saxophone. Its always good to find a run of consecutive favourite songs on a CD and that certainly proved to be the case here. There was only one spot where I missed the old recording, and it took me by surprise. It was at the end of Beware of the beautiful stranger when what passes for my brain was programmed to expect All I ever did. Perhaps that's one for Volume 2. May it be as lovely as Volume 1! Thanks Pete Jan

...... The old arrangement of Master of the revels was never one of my favourites, I could see it had its place but it was all that jauntiness and the tuba I didn't take to. ...........!

Jan

As this is one of the shows likely to give the album a bit of exposure, I'd personally not make too much of the "the tuba I didn't take to". While I'd be the last to suggest that it colours his judgment in any way, Russell's near-legendary fondness for the tuba is, I suggest, always worth bearing in mind.

I owe Russell Davies a great debt. If he hadn't been Welsh my mother probably wouldn't have paid so much attention, and wouldn't have mentioned to me a late night programme called The Party's Moving On. She watched the programme just to see Dai Davies and without him I wouldn't be here now. Jan

On the whole, I really, really, like the new versions of these old favourites.

After hearing the pre-release mp3s I was worried that the clarinet on Laughing Boy would be far too much, but the CD version seems to have reduced the volume a bit and doesn't have quite the harshness of the encoded version (or maybe I am just getting used to it). I still find it a little too intrusive, though. Any chance, Pete, of following in the footsteps of Bare Naked Ladies and releasing the separate stem tracks so that we can mix our own versions?

Loved the shakuhachi on "Thief in the Night", and the slower tempo works much better too.

I still can't get the hang of Hypertension Kid. Was everyone actually performing the same song? I first heard the track through tinny speakers in a noisy environment (so now bass), and it was very hard to spot any link between the piano and voice! MOTR leans the same way, but it seems to fit better there.

I owe Russell Davies a great debt. If he hadn't been Welsh my mother probably wouldn't have paid so much attention, and wouldn't have mentioned to me a late night programme called The Party's Moving On. She watched the programme just to see Dai Davies and without him I wouldn't be here now.

Er... isn't "and without him I wouldn't be here now" how people acknowledge their fathers? Just me then?